An antenna array, e.g., a phased array antenna, may include a plurality of radiating antenna elements configured to simultaneously emit signals in accordance with a beamforming scheme.
For example, the phased array antenna may be controlled to form a beam directed in a particular direction, or to receive a beam from a particular direction, by shifting phases of the signals emitted by the plurality of antenna elements. The phases of the signals emitted by the antenna elements may be shifted, for example, to provide a constructive and/or destructive interference configured to steer the beam in the particular direction.
The phased array antenna may operate as a steerable antenna having a steerable beam, which may be steered to a preferred beam direction. For example, the preferred beam direction may be a direction in which received wireless communication signals are optimal, e.g., having maximal signal strength.
A wireless communication device may utilize a beamforming process to determine antenna weights to be applied to the antenna elements, e.g., to provide a maximum directional gain and/or facilitate multi-gigabit rate transmission.
The beamforming process may include performing a channel estimation using an omni-directional antenna setting at a receiver side, and determining the antenna weights based on a time tap (“tap”), which has a maximal amplitude, of a channel response of the channel estimation in a time domain.